New York Rangers To Place Adam Fox On LTIR, Igor Shesterkin On IR
The New York Rangers will place defenseman Adam Fox on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), and place netminder Igor Shesterkin on injured reserve, according to Mollie Walker of The New York Post.
While those injured reserve placements have yet to be officially announced, the Rangers did foreshadow the moves by recalling veteran netminder Spencer Martin and defenseman Scott Morrow from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Rangers also reassigned forward Brett Berard back to the AHL.
The Rangers lost in overtime to the Utah Mammoth yesterday, and Shesterkin left that game with a non-contact lower-body injury.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported today that Shesterkin “avoided” the “worst-case scenario” with his injury, but is still being evaluated.
Any potential extended absence of Shesterkin would deal a massive, potentially fatal blow to the Rangers’ hopes of returning to the playoffs in 2025-26.
The 2021-22 Vezina Trophy winner has started 34 games for New York this season, posting a .913 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against-average.
He’s widely considered to be among the league’s finest netminders, a status reflected by the eight-year, $11.5MM AAV contract extension he signed in December of 2024.
While the Rangers have a veteran backup in Jonathan Quick who has been stellar this season (.919 save percentage in 11 games), he hasn’t had to handle a significant workload since he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings. The three-time Stanley Cup champion made just 20 starts last season and 26 the year before. For as long as Shesterkin is out with this injury, Quick will now be counted on as the Rangers’ No. 1 goalie.
Supporting Quick in the crease is Martin, a 30-year-old veteran with 66 games of NHL experience. Martin was the No. 3 goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes last season but couldn’t find an NHL role for 2025-26 last summer, so he signed with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. Martin left CSKA and signed with the Rangers in November. He went 5-6-2 with a .905 save percentage in the KHL, and has a .903 save percentage in six games played for the Wolf Pack this season.
The Rangers could have also opted to recall 23-year-old Dylan Garand to the NHL to fill Shesterkin’s vacated roster spot, as the former CHL Goalie of the Year has been quite good in Hartford over the last few years and could be NHL-ready at this point. But seeing as Quick is likely to start most of the games in Shesterkin’s absence, it’s understandable that the Rangers would rather recall Martin, the veteran, and let Garand continue to get a steady diet of starts and develop at the AHL level.
While we don’t know how long Shesterkin is set to be out for, we do have a slightly more clear timeline regarding Fox. The 2020-21 Norris Trophy winner missed most of December with an upper-body injury, one that landed him on LTIR. He’ll now return to LTIR, this time with a lower-body injury, after just three games played. LTIR rules stipulate that Fox must now miss at least 10 games or 24 days of action. According to Walker’s report, Fox will be re-evaluated when he is eligible to be activated.
Replacing Fox on the Rangers’ roster is Morrow, who the team acquired this past summer as part of the K’Andre Miller trade. Morrow was ranked as the NHL’s No. 33 skater prospect by the team at Elite Prospects this past August, a billing he earned after scoring 39 points in 52 AHL games in his first full season playing pro hockey. The 23-year-old hasn’t been able to translate that level of production from the Hurricanes organization to New York, scoring just five points in 14 games in Hartford and three points in 16 games for the Rangers.
The Rangers at times gave Morrow a look quarterbacking their power play while Fox was injured, but he was unable to seize that role. With Fox now set to miss around a month or more, Morrow could get another look in that role.
The final player involved in transactions today is Berard. The 23-year-old has split time between Hartford and New York this season, skating in 20 games for the Wolf Pack (nine points scored) and 12 games for the Rangers (zero points). He’s a pending restricted free agent who was recalled at the start of 2026 and was dressed for the team’s Jan. 2 victory over the Florida Panthers.
He was a healthy scratch for yesterday’s loss to Utah. Newsday’s Colin Stephenson noted today that Berard’s reassignment leaves the Rangers short of spare forwards, which could suggest that one, or both, of injured forwards J.T. Miller and Noah Laba may be close to returning.
Photos courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Buffalo Sabres Make Four Roster Moves
The Buffalo Sabres announced a series of roster moves today, as they activated veteran Jason Zucker off of injured reserve and recalled defenseman Zac Jones from their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In two corresponding moves, the Sabres placed defenseman Michael Kesselring and goaltender Alex Lyon on injured reserve.
Zucker, 33, has been out since the Sabres’ Dec. 8 contest against the Calgary Flames. Despite losing Zucker, a veteran of nearly 800 games who had 18 points in 21 games before his injury, the Sabres went on a 10-game win streak starting in their first game without Zucker, a streak that only came to an end Jan. 3 at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Per NHL.com’s Heather Engel, Zucker will return to the lineup as the Sabres’ second-line right winger. When he last played, Zucker was the team’s third-line left wing, skating on a line with Jack Quinn and Ryan McLeod. Zach Benson is now in that spot.
The return of Zucker should help the Sabres build more momentum in their push to end their playoff drought, which stands as the league’s longest. The 33-year-old is playing out the first year of a two-year contract extension he signed in March of last year, one that carries a $4.75MM cap hit.
Shifting focus to the Sabres’ defense, the team placed Kesselring on IR after he missed the team’s Saturday loss to the Blue Jackets. The 25-year-old missed nearly a month with a lower-body injury in November and December, and also began the season with a lower-body injury that cost him nine games. The 6’5″ blueliner was acquired by the Sabres over the summer as part of the JJ Peterka trade. The Sabres also received breakout winger Josh Doan from the Utah Mammoth in the deal.
His difficulty staying healthy has cost Kesselring the chance to play a significant role on head coach Lindy Ruff’s defense. Through 16 games played this season, Kesselring doesn’t have a point and is averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time per game, including just over a minute shorthanded.
Replacing Kesselring on the roster is Jones, a former minor league and NCAA standout. Once one of the better prospects in the New York Rangers’ system (he was ranked No. 2 in their pool by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler in 2022), Jones failed to earn a regular role on the Rangers, serving mainly as a reserve defenseman under former head coach Peter Laviolette.
Jones was not extended a qualifying offer by the Rangers last summer, and the Sabres signed him to a one-year, $900K deal with a hefty $550K AHL salary. While he has yet to make his Sabres debut after failing to earn a spot on the team out of training camp, he has been brilliant at the AHL level. Jones has 30 points in 27 games for the Americans, leading the team in scoring.
If Jones gets the chance to play during this recall, it would be a significant opportunity for him as he is a pending restricted free agent. The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn wrote on Jan. 3 that the Sabres “don’t have a lot of internal options Ruff trusts.” If Jones can find a way to earn the trust of Ruff to a greater extent than his rival Sabres depth blueliners have been able to (namely Zach Metsa, Jacob Bryson, and Ryan Johnson), he could secure an extended runway to show off his skills at the NHL level.
To clear sufficient room for Jones’ recall and Zucker’s activation on their regular roster, the Sabres placed Lyon, a goalie, on IR. Lyon has been dealing with a lower-body injury and will now miss at least a week due to this IR placement. The 33-year-old has a 10-6-3 record this season with a .904 save percentage, and is under contract at a $1.5MM AAV through next season. Since the Sabres have been carrying three goalies on their active roster, they are able to place Lyon on IR without recalling another netminder.
With Lyon injured, Ruff and the Sabres will turn to veteran Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and rookie waiver claim Colten Ellis in the crease to help sustain the momentum they built with their win streak.
Photos courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
San Jose Sharks Place Shakir Mukhamadullin On IR, Recall Michael Misa
The San Jose Sharks announced today that forward Michael Misa has been recalled from the Canadian National Junior Team. In a corresponding move, the club placed defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin on injured reserve.
Mukhamadullin left San Jose’s Jan. 3 contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning with an injury. His placement on IR means he’ll miss at least a week with his injury, and the Sharks have not announced a more specific recovery timeline for the Russian blueliner. Mukhamadullin is averaging 16:26 time on ice per game this season including 1:26 per game on the penalty kill. He has six points through 23 games and is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
Replacing Mukhamadullin on the active roster is Misa, fresh off of winning a bronze medal with Canada at the World Junior Championships in Minnesota. The No. 2 pick at the 2025 draft, Misa scored three points in seven games for the Sharks after breaking camp with the team, but found himself outside of the regular lineup looking in. In a situation not entirely unlike 2022 No. 4 pick Shane Wright‘s rookie season with the Seattle Kraken in 2022-23, Misa was able to be reassigned to the AHL on a conditioning loan before his loan to Team Canada. Misa scored one point in two AHL contests.
The talented 18-year-old scorer re-enters the Sharks’ pro ranks after an uneven World Juniors tournament. While his on-paper numbers were acceptable (seven points in seven games), five of those seven points came in blowout victories over Denmark and Slovakia, respectively, games in which Canada was never in much true danger of losing. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler wrote today that Misa “didn’t meet expectations” at the tournament and “never quite came up big in a big moment for Canada.” Misa’s performance in Canada’s semifinal loss to Czechia generated some criticism, with The Athletic’s Corey Pronman writing in the aftermath “it’s reasonable to be concerned about how much [Misa] has disappeared in big games.”
Thankfully for Misa, the way the Sharks are playing right now could give him the opportunity to play in some more “big games” before the season is over. In the past few seasons, the Sharks would be in the NHL’s basement at this point, with virtually no chance of seriously competing for the playoffs in the spring. But thanks in large part to a stellar sophomore season from Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, just two points behind the Anaheim Ducks for the second Wild Card playoff spot.
Flames Place John Beecher On IR, Recall Zayne Parekh
The Calgary Flames announced two transactions today, placing forward John Beecher on injured reserve and recalling Zayne Parekh from his loan to the Canadian National Junior Team. The two moves keep the Flames at 23 players on their active roster.
The Flames announced that Beecher has suffered an upper-body injury and is expected to miss time on a week-to-week basis. Beecher suffered the injury during the Flames’ Jan. 3 loss to the Nashville Predators. Beecher earned a one-game suspension for roughing in that game, a suspension he served during the Flames’ game yesterday against the Kraken.
When he was last in the Flames’ lineup, Beecher was the team’s fourth-line center. He has two points in 19 games since the Flames claimed him off of waivers from the Boston Bruins, and he is averaging 9:38 time on ice per game. That includes just under 90 seconds per game of short-handed ice time.
This injury comes at an unfortunate time for Beecher, as he’s a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights. Presumably, he’s been playing out this season with the hopes of earning a spot in the Flames’ long-term plans.
With his size, faceoff ability (he posted a 53% faceoff win rate as a Bruin) and above-average speed, Beecher has many of the qualities teams want to see out of bottom-six centers. But so far in his career, the 2019 first-rounder hasn’t been able to firmly establish himself as a quality NHL defensive center.
The Flames, as well as Beecher, were likely hoping that a change of scenery away from Boston would help him take the next step in his career, but so far, that hasn’t really happened. This injury will only further decrease the odds that he’ll be able to take that step forward as a Flame.
As for Parekh, this move allows him to re-join the pro ranks after a solid run at the World Junior Championships. Parekh led the tournament in scoring by a defenseman with 13 points in just seven games. While the Canadians had to settle for a Bronze medal after falling to Czechia in the semifinals, the tournament nonetheless gave Parekh the opportunity to restore some confidence in his abilities as an offensive defenseman.
Widely seen as one of the most dynamic offensive defensemen prospects in the sport, Parekh only managed one point in 11 games after making the Flames out of camp. Parekh got used to scoring nearly two points per game during his days in the OHL, so getting the chance to once again compete against his peers could allow the 2024 No. 9 pick to return to the pro ranks ready to hit the ground running. The Flames, who rank No. 30 in the NHL in goals scored, could certainly stand to benefit if Parekh can find a way to translate his dynamic ability to the NHL level.
Jets’ Logan Stanley Suspended One Game
4:30 PM: A second player has received discipline today, as Stanley is suspended one game for yesterday’s actions, per the NHL Department of Player Safety. The decision proves to be Stanley’s first supplemental discipline in the NHL.
An imposing force at 6’7″, the defenseman has really leaned into physicality to make an impact at the highest level. He has already surpassed his career high in penalty minutes, at 82, in just 40 games this season. Stanley will have to miss Tuesday’s home tilt against Vegas, but figures to return Thursday as Winnipeg hosts Edmonton in step two of a five game home stand.
10:40 AM: The NHL Department of Player Safety announced that a second player will have a hearing for actions in a game last night: Winnipeg Jets defenseman Logan Stanley. More specifically, Stanley will have a hearing for roughing committed against Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.
The incident in question occurred away from the play, near the Senators’ bench. Stanley and Tkachuk were engaged with one another and Tkachuk ended up losing his helmet in the process. After shoving Stanley, Tkachuk grabbed onto his stick, after which Stanley dropped his gloves and delivered a punch to Tkachuk’s face. In that moment, Tkachuk did not appear to be looking at Stanley when Stanley delivered the punch.
The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie wrote yesterday that the Senators were left “outraged” by the incident and its aftermath, and head coach Travis Green spoke on it after the game, saying: “You never like to see a guy get suckered in the face. It’s unfortunate, we’re lucky he came back. He’s an All-Star player. I’m sure their team wouldn’t be happy if (Kyle) Connor got suckered in the face and there was just a two-minute minor for roughing called.”
Tkachuk managed to finish the game and registered an assist, beating the Jets by a score of 4-2 and handing Winnipeg its ninth straight loss. Based on today’s announcement from the Department of Player Safety, it appears the Jets may be forced to try to end their losing streak without Stanley, as he could miss their next game (or more) with a potential suspension.
Stanley, 27, skated on the Jets’ third pairing last night. He’s been Winnipeg’s No. 5 defenseman in terms of ice time this season, averaging 16:09 per game with only sporadic usage on special teams. He has seven goals and 13 points in 40 games this season, and is playing out the final year of a two-year, $1.25MM AAV contract. Barring an extension, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Flames’ John Beecher Suspended One Game
3:30 PM: The NHL Department of Player Safety announced this afternoon that Beecher will be suspended one game as a result of last night’s roughing incident. The forward will miss tomorrow’s home game against Seattle.
Beecher is eligible to return at Montreal on Wednesday, however, as reported by Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960, he was injured in the fight with Hague and could miss additional time.
10:00 AM: Calgary Flames forward John Beecher will have a hearing today for roughing Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron during last night’s contest, the Department of Player Safety announced.
Beecher is now facing the prospect of a suspension after a play that occurred in the later portion of the first period of last night’s Predators victory. As a scrum between the Predators and Flames began to die down, and officials attempted to separate Beecher and McCarron, Beecher delivered a punch to McCarron’s face, one that dropped the Predators veteran to the ground. Predators head coach Andrew Brunette was visibly agitated after the play, and Beecher fought Predators defenseman Nic Hague later in the game.
It should be noted that the punch was not delivered within the circumstances of a fight, and under the NHL’s rules, one could consider McCarron an unsuspecting or at least unwilling recipient of the punch.
As The Tennessean’s Alex Daugherty noted last night, a punch delivered under those circumstances typically merits a match penalty. The Flames could argue that while Beecher’s punch was certainly uncalled for, it would not qualify as a traditional “sucker punch” as McCarron chose to physically engage with Beecher and therefore could not have been fully unaware that a punch could be coming, or could not be considered a fully “unwilling” participant. But on the other hand, seeing as McCarron and Beecher were in the process of being separated, and that their confrontation appeared to be fizzling out, it’s unclear how strong such an argument would be.
In any case, Beecher will now get the chance to explain his actions to the Department of Player Safety. No supplemental discipline has yet been decided, but it appears likely some will be coming for Beecher.
The 24-year-old began the season as a member of the Boston Bruins before he was claimed off of waivers by the Flames on Nov. 18. He has two points in 19 games in Calgary, and skated last night as the club’s fourth-line center. Beecher is playing out a one-year, one-way $900K contract and is set to be a pending restricted free agent, with arbitration rights, in the summer.
Morning Notes: Mangiapane, Sabres, Spitznagel
Last week, we covered reports coming out of Edmonton that the Oilers were looking to move out a few forwards, with Andrew Mangiapane and Noah Philp specifically named as two likely candidates. Philp was claimed off of waivers by the Carolina Hurricanes later that day, while Mangiapane remains on the Oilers’ roster, though he has been a healthy scratch for two of the last three games. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman addressed Mangiapane’s situation last night, saying that the Oilers are “definitely looking” to see if there’s a fit in terms of trading away Mangiapane.
Mangiapane, 29, has five goals and 11 points through 40 games this season. Complicating his odds of being traded is his contract, which carries a $3.6MM cap hit and a term that extends through next season. During his days with the Calgary Flames, Mangiapane was, without question, worth that kind of cap hit. He hit the 40-point mark three times as a Flame, and even managed 35 goals and 55 points in 2021-22. While Friedman did note that some teams view Mangiapane’s contract as a factor that could limit his chances of being traded, he also said that there are others who don’t see that as “a big deal.” It should also be noted that Mangiapane’s contract carries a full no-trade clause until June 15, meaning Mangiapane will need to sign off on any trade before the Oilers can deal him.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- The Buffalo Sabres’ win streak came to an end last night, and their difficult loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets raised questions about whether the team is in need of defensive reinforcements to help it survive injuries to key players on their back end. The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn wrote yesterday that the Sabres “don’t have a lot of internal options [head coach Lindy Ruff] trusts.” Fairburn added that as a result, getting additional defensive depth “seems like a clear need that new general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen should be targeting on the trade market.” While it’s unlikely that means the Sabres will be shopping for high-end defensemen such as the Calgary Flames’ Rasmus Andersson, the injury situation in Buffalo does make the team a likelier candidate to pursue some additional defensive depth on the trade market.
- The Michigan Daily’s Matthew Auchincloss reported yesterday that freshman forward Teddy Spitznagel has left the University of Michigan Wolverines program, a development that was later confirmed by the program. Spitznagel spent parts of three seasons with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks before beginning his NCAA career, winning the Clark Cup last season. McKeen’s Hockey’s Brock Otten commented on Spitznagel’s Michigan departure, noting that Spitznagel could be a candidate to head to the OHL. If he decides to head to the OHL, he would be the second forward in recent years to depart Michigan mid-season to head to the OHL. Christian Humphreys, a 2024 seventh-round selection of the Colorado Avalanche, left Michigan for the OHL after just 10 games played last season. He ended up scoring 33 points in 28 games for the Kitchener Rangers and has 13 goals, 46 points in 33 games there this season.
Josh Doan Building Case For Significant Pay Raise
The Buffalo Sabres are the NHL’s hottest team, owners of a ten-game winning streak. While numerous contributors have helped drive the club’s reversal in fortunes, one name standing out is that of Sabres forward Josh Doan, in the midst of his first season in Western New York. The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn wrote yesterday that Doan “might be an ideal match” to play with Sabres star Tage Thompson long-term, and called Doan “a building block” for the club moving forward.
While the Sabres are surely extremely pleased with Doan’s play so far this season, a complication of his strong form is his status as a pending restricted free agent. Set to turn 24 on Feb. 1, Doan will have arbitration rights if he hits restricted free agency this summer. He has 11 goals and 26 points in 39 games this season, good for a 55-point 82-game scoring pace.
While most arbitration-eligible players don’t end up going through the actual arbitration process, the looming presence of an arbitrator can most definitely change the dynamics of a negotiation. Having the arbitration process as a possibility gives greater leverage to the player and his representatives compared to RFAs without arbitration rights, a factor that further strengthens Doan’s likelihood of receiving a hefty pay raise this upcoming summer.
Fairburn pointed to the seven-year, $6.5MM AAV contract extension signed by Matthew Coronato of the Calgary Flames as a deal that “feels like the floor for Doan” if he can maintain his current scoring pace.
The son of Shane Doan, the longtime face of the Arizona Coyotes franchise during his time in the NHL, Josh Doan has massively enhanced his league wide-stock this season. The Sabres acquired Doan alongside defenseman Michael Kesselring from the Utah Mammoth over the summer in exchange for young winger JJ Peterka.
While Peterka was seen as the best player at the time of the deal, Doan’s emergence may begin to change how that trade is viewed. Peterka has 29 points in 41 games in Utah, just three more points than Doan with two additional games played.
Given how the salary cap is likely to escalate even further beyond the projections of the next two years, getting Doan signed to a long-term extension in the mold of Coronato could be in the Sabres’ best financial interests. One could also argue that the Sabres would be wise to avoid making expensive, long-term financial commitments while the team is on such a torrid stretch, given the risk of overpaying for a hot hand.
But in Doan’s case, the fundamentals of what make him such a valuable NHL player appear to be quite stable, and there’s no reason to doubt his ability to be at the very least a very good middle-six winger in the long term.
Photos courtesy of Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
New York Islanders Recall Cole McWard
The New York Islanders announced today that defenseman Cole McWard has been recalled from the club’s AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders.
McWard takes the place of blueliner Marshall Warren on the Islanders’ roster, as Warren was reassigned to Bridgeport yesterday. Warren had played in six consecutive games for the Islanders from Dec. 20 to Jan. 1, his final game for the team being the club’s 7-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth on the first day of 2026. Warren has three assists through eight games this season playing in a limited bottom-pairing role.
In recalling McWard to replace Warren, the Islanders have swapped 24-year-old depth defensemen on their roster.
While Warren is a left-shot defenseman who entered the year with zero games of NHL experience, McWard joins the Islanders’ roster with six games of NHL experience already on his résumé. He was signed as an undrafted player out of the NCAA’s Michigan Wolverines in 2023 and ended the season with a five-game run on the Vancouver Canucks’ NHL roster.
McWard then spent the following two campaigns in the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks, playing a top-four role and winning a Calder Cup with the team last season. McWard signed with the Islanders this past summer after he was non-tendered by the Canucks; he got a one-year, two-way pact with a league-minimum NHL salary and a $200K total guarantee in order to sign on Long Island.
So far this season, McWard has been a top-pairing defenseman for the AHL Islanders. He has scored 16 points in 29 games and leads the team in time-on-ice per game, playing a role on both special teams units. The fact that he’s a right shot would, on paper, make him a less natural fit with veteran Scott Mayfield on the Islanders’ bottom pairing, though the other spare defenseman on the roster, Adam Boqvist, is also a righty.
Andrew Gross of Newsday wrote today that he expects McWard to play tonight when the Islanders host the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it’s likely McWard will make his Islanders debut lined up next to Mayfield.
Latest On Yegor Chinakhov
While the NHL has already seen some significant trades in 2025-26, including one involving the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2020 first-round pick Yegor Chinakhov has yet to change teams. The 24-year-old requested a trade before this season and has not retracted his request, but no move has materialized to this point.
The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun addressed Chinakhov’s situation in an article earlier today, speculating that the San Jose Sharks could be a solid fit to acquire the young winger. Within the piece, LeBrun also noted how the Blue Jackets’ recent acquisition of Mason Marchment may impact Columbus’ approach to trading Chinakhov.
LeBrun wrote that “when teams called” on Chinakhov earlier this year, he does not believe “Columbus wanted just a draft pick” in exchange for the player. LeBrun added that since the Blue Jackets dealt second and fourth-round picks to the Seattle Kraken to acquire Marchment, “they might be OK recouping a second-round pick” for Chinakhov.
Whether a team would be willing to spend a second-round pick to acquire Chinakhov, though, is the key question. Two seasons ago, Chinakhov appeared to be on the verge of an NHL breakout, scoring 16 goals and 29 points in just 53 games. Injuries limited Chinakhov to just 30 games last season and through 29 games this season, Chinakhov has just six points.
A skilled offensive player, Chinakhov has been unable to earn the trust of head coach Dean Evason, who has at times made him a healthy scratch. The Blue Jackets have yet to fulfill Chinakhov’s trade request, but it appears their recent acquisition of Marchment could be the force that paves the way for the player to get his long-requested change of scenery.